It's been nearly a month since a high school student accused a Memphis Police Officer of forcibly raping her. No charges have been filed in the case. What's taking so long?
The 17-year old goes to Fairley High School in Whitehaven. She reported the rape to a police officer at the school on February 5th. She said happened off-campus on an earlier day.
Students at Fairley high school say they haven't heard much about the rape accusations since they were first reported a month ago.
“They really aren't saying a lot about it,” said Senior Jeremy Ross. “I think they're just trying to let it go.”
The Memphis Police Department put the officer on “Non-Enforcement” status pending the investigation. An investigation it says is still ongoing. Some of you want to know what's taking so long.
The MPD told Eyewitness News it was waiting on forensic testing. That's done by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The TBI says DNA results take an average of nine weeks to complete in the Memphis lab.
“If you look around at other states,” said TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm. “That’s probably one of the fastest DNA turnaround times that you'll find at any crime lab at any state.”
It can be done faster, however.
“Something that's a very serious nature that needs to be expedited, that's a threat to public safety,” said Helm. “They can always request us to expedite things and of course we will do that for them.”
Eyewitness News asked the Memphis Police Department about this case and if there was any consideration given the fact the accused is a Memphis Police Officer. The department issued a statement saying "This is a complex investigation and will take time. Sex crimes asked for an expedited examination when they submitted the request." The statement went on to say, ”This case is being investigated as any other complaint.”
The Sex Crimes Bureau and the Inspectional Services Bureau, the department that investigates criminal wrongdoing by officers, are working on the case.
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